Moist Pumpkin Bread From Scratch

This is the PERFECT pumpkin bread. It’s super moist and full of wonderful fall, pumpkin flavors and stays soft for days. It also makes two loaves which means you can easily have one for your family and have one to give to a friend, neighbor, or teacher. The secret lies in a perfect balance of pumpkin puree, oil, and water, creating a loaf that’s moist and never dry. You can even add raisins or walnuts.

For more pumpkin treats, try our Baked Maple Pumpkin Donuts, or our Pumpkin Fry Bread.

With only one bowl and no complicated steps, you’ll have your batter mixed and ready to bake in no time. We’ve also ditched the standard pumpkin spice blend for our custom combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves, giving this bread the perfect cozy fall flavor without being overpowering.

Ingredient Notes

• Pumpkin Puree: Be sure to use plain pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, as the latter contains added sugar and spices. You’ll find this in the baking aisle, usually near the canned fruits and vegetables.
• Vegetable Oil: This keeps the bread moist. If you don’t want to use vegetable oil, we recommend using the same amount of unsweetened applesauce which is the best substitute for keeping the same level of moist.
• Spices: Our custom blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves provides just the right amount of warm fall flavors without overpowering the pumpkin. You can use 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice instead.

Add-Ins

Our Moist Pumpkin Bread is amazing on its own, but if you desire a little something extra, add chopped walnuts or chopped pecans (1-2 cups approximately). You can also mix in the same amount of raisins or chocolate chips – because if you’ve never tried pumpkin chocolate chip bread, you’re in for a tasty treat! This bread is the perfect base recipe, so feel free to play around and find your perfect add-in.

Baking Tips

Because every oven bakes a little differently, sometimes the top of your loaf might brown more quickly than you want. If you’re worried about this, place a piece of aluminum foil loosely over the top during the last 20 minutes of baking – kind of like a little tent. This is a little trick from the many times we’ve made this Moist Pumpkin Bread, as well as other breads.

And make sure you generously grease and flour your loaf pans to avoid the bread sticking. One of the best ways to do this that we’ve found is using a solid vegetable shortening and our fingers. Once greased, add 1/4 cup of flour into the pan, and (over the sink for any flour that spills out) rotate the loaf pan until every part of the interior has a dusty flour coating. Dump any excess flour into the trash or straight into the next pan if you’re making multiple loaves.